The changing social organisation and practice of African agriculture, and the elucidation of 'indigenous technical knowledge' (ITK) are both research priorities but are usually examined separately. This thesis shows why ITK should be understood within the historically changing social relations of its production and expression. Inversely, it shows why an investigation of the history of ITK improves analyses of changing social organisation. The study is based on social anthropological fieldwork in a Bwisha community in Kivu, Eastern Zaire. Chapter one examines various problems in the elucidation and representation of ITK. Chapter two reviews social organisation in Bwisha. Subsequent chapters focus on the several different histories which together constitute the changing relations of production of ITK in Bwisha. Chapters three and four examine political economic forms. Land access and inter-household relations are explored in chapter five, and intra-household relations are explored in chapter six. Chapter seven focuses in on food provisioning possibilities, and chapter eight on strategies of crop and soil fertility management. Each of these histories is the site of specific struggles. Chapter nine examines how these struggles interrelate, how together they constitute the relations of production of local knowledge and hence how they shape the product. Agricultural knowledge is found to be intimately related to local understandings of task, hierarchical and gender identities, the nature of power and social organisational form. Changes in farming knowledge respond to changes in these and vice versa. The conclusion elaborates on this point. To say that farming is socio-politically embedded does not go far enough.

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Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Companies are putting in place systems that might assist in attaining their business goals and vision to improve the running of their business processes. Companies are looking at Business Intelligence (BI) as a means to attain a competitive edge over competitors, predict future trends, improve strategic decision making, facilitate quick and reliable decision making, or make the day-to-day running of business easier. The study looks at the perspective of middle to top management on the context of BI, with main focus on the technical capabilities of BI within medium to large companies in South Africa. To obtain factors relevant to the South African business context, an online survey was conducted with various sectors of South African industry. The study is part of research conducted collaboratively by the University of the Western Cape and Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences in Germany. It focuses on exploring usage of Business Intelligence Systems (BIS) together with Corporate Performance. Online surveys were conducted that targeted medium to large companies in Germany and South Africa by questioning middle to top management on issues surrounding BIS and Corporate Performance. On this basis online survey approach was taken to ensure required number of participants would be covered and approached. Therefore, the research adopted stratified sample method for the online survey. Stratified sampling enabled the expansion of the research by gathering and collaborating participants responses on the research question and eliminate the possibilities of unreliable sample from large population.

The aim of the research is to investigate comprehension-knowledge of teenagers and the youth in engineering as an assessment construct, to define educational and psychosocial factors influencing its expression. The aim of the research has been achieved by solving research tasks: • defining comprehension-knowledge in engineering as an assessment construct; • preparing assessment instruments for measuring comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • selecting and testing assessment instruments for measuring the expression of educational and psychosocial factors related to comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • defining the relationship of comprehension-knowledge in engineering with cognitive and non-cognitive factors, processing the data statistically by using modern methods of multidimensional statistics; • defining statistical types of teenagers and the youth in the aspect of the expression of comprehension-knowledge in engineering by using multidimensional methods; • discussing feasibility of improving technical education in this country in the context of data obtained from this research.

The aim of the research is to investigate comprehension-knowledge of teenagers and the youth in engineering as an assessment construct, to define educational and psychosocial factors influencing its expression. The aim of the research has been achieved by solving research tasks: • defining comprehension-knowledge in engineering as an assessment construct; • preparing assessment instruments for measuring comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • selecting and testing assessment instruments for measuring the expression of educational and psychosocial factors related to comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • defining the relationship of comprehension-knowledge in engineering with cognitive and non-cognitive factors, processing the data statistically by using modern methods of multidimensional statistics; • defining statistical types of teenagers and the youth in the aspect of the expression of comprehension-knowledge in engineering by using multidimensional methods; • discussing feasibility of improving technical education in this country in the context of data obtained from this research.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Companies are putting in place systems that might assist in attaining their business goals and vision to improve the running of their business processes. Companies are looking at Business Intelligence (BI) as a means to attain a competitive edge over competitors, predict future trends, improve strategic decision making, facilitate quick and reliable decision making, or make the day-to-day running of business easier. The study looks at the perspective of middle to top management on the context of BI, with main focus on the technical capabilities of BI within medium to large companies in South Africa. To obtain factors relevant to the South African business context, an online survey was conducted with various sectors of South African industry. The study is part of research conducted collaboratively by the University of the Western Cape and Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences in Germany. It focuses on exploring usage of Business Intelligence Systems (BIS) together with Corporate Performance. Online surveys were conducted that targeted medium to large companies in Germany and South Africa by questioning middle to top management on issues surrounding BIS and Corporate Performance. On this basis online survey approach was taken to ensure required number of participants would be covered and approached. Therefore, the research adopted stratified sample method for the online survey. Stratified sampling enabled the expansion of the research by gathering and collaborating participants responses on the research question and eliminate the possibilities of unreliable sample from large population.

This study examines decision-making processes involved in the development, integration and management of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in self-managing secondary schools and influences that affect these processes. To obtain an holistic view of ICT decision-making processes, a case study is undertaken of three co-educational, state secondary schools within a regional New Zealand city, thereby establishing a multiple case study. The principal, network manager and three staff nominated by the principal as playing an active role in ICT decision-making processes were interviewed using an open-ended interview. Five frequently cited generic decision-making models, developed by theorists to describe specific features of the decision-making process, are examined to provide a theoretical platform against which the interview data are analysed and interpreted. The study concludes that ICT decision-making in the case study schools is influenced particularly by technical knowledge and understandings. Such decision-making tends to be ad-hoc, isolated from other important influences particularly in relation to teaching and learning issues, and 'bounded' because of limited information, the limitations of existing technology, and the inability of schools to keep abreast of technological changes. Six implications are therefore put forward to inform future ICT decision-making in schools. They are: 1. Schools should develop a strategic plan that is underpinned with technical planning requirements; 2. Technical advice and professional development should be provided for principals; 3. Principals should consult outside the school environment for technical advice to assist with decisions; 4. The role of the ICT committee should be redefined to include planning and development of ICT; 5. Principals should ensure that staff receive professional development; and 6. Schools should consider student access and the best way of integrating ICT into teaching and learning. The study highlights the need for schools to develop strategic plans that address teaching and learning issues in the development, integration and management of ICT in self-managing secondary schools. Technical decisions should be made in support of these.

La thèse comprend trois parties dont la première vise à définir le contexte historique et culturel dans lequel se développa la production littéraire prise en considération. Nous y décrivons la position d'infériorité relative qui était, depuis l'Antiquité, celle des praticiens (mechanici) par rapports aux lettrés et, plus généralement, aux représentants des arts libéraux. Nous décrivons ensuite le milieu dans lequel évoluèrent les auteurs des dialogues étudiés, c'est-à-dire la cour, centre névralgique et décisionnel de la société à cette époque et qui, passage obligé de l'ascension sociale, était aussi un milieu hostile et très fortement concurrentiel. Le prince occupait le sommet de sa hiérarchie et se situait au cœur des dynamiques internes qui l'animaient. Les techniciens tels que certains des auteurs des ouvrages étudiés devaient se confronter à ce milieu s'ils espéraient faire carrière. Les possibilités d'évolution professionnelle et sociale qui s'ouvraient à eux étaient réelles : les États italiens montrèrent en effet au XVIème siècle un intérêt certain pour les disciplines techniques et proto-scientifiques. Dans ce contexte, la production textuelle représentait un moyen d'action de première importance. Le livre pouvait en effet être conçu comme une monnaie d'échange dans les relations courtisanes, mais aussi comme un succédané à l'action militaire ou comme un moyen efficace pour la promotion des compétences de l'auteur.La deuxième partie de la thèse nous rapproche des textes qui forment le corpus de recherche. Le fait que ces ouvrages traitaient d'affaires militaires représentait un atout dans les cours de la péninsule au XVIème siècle et pouvait leur assurer une réception favorable tout en ouvrant des perspectives de carrière à leurs auteurs. Le premier chapitre de cette partie vise donc à montrer comment était perçue l'utilité de l'art militaire à cette époque. Si la rhétorique faisait de son exaltation un véritable lieu commun, la réalité historique conduisait à un constat unanime : celui de la nécessité urgente pour les États de la Péninsule, qui subirent des échecs cuisants dans la première partie du siècle notamment, d'améliorer l'efficacité de leurs armées. La production d'ouvrages militaires aux finalités didactiques s'encadre, en partie tout du moins, dans ce contexte et répond à la volonté de proposer une instruction militaire plus avancée. La manière dont les auteurs des dialogues étudiés cherchèrent à répondre à ce besoin vital dépendait substantiellement de leur conception de l'art militaire. On en distingue trois principales à cette époque mais toutes préconisent, dans des proportions et selon des modalités différentes, l'union des connaissances théoriques et pratiques. Les hommes de métiers – des membres de l'aristocratie ayant souvent reçu une certaine formation culturelle – revendiquaient la supériorité des savoirs pratiques et critiquaient ceux que l'on appellera les théoriciens purs. Dans leurs ouvrages, ils arrivaient parfois à remettre en cause la pertinence d'une transmission des savoirs militaires par l'écrit. Le paradoxe n'est cependant qu'apparent : la notion clé de l'experimentum – qui peut s'accommoder du support écrit – permet de le résoudre. L'approche de type humaniste, de son côté, relève d'une perspective générale et aristocratique de l'art. Le recours aux auctoritates antiques y est fréquent et les vertus classiques occupent une place de premier ordre. Enfin, les techniciens de la guerre faisaient des mathématiques le fondement essentiel de leur conception de l'art militaire moderne / No english summary

This thesis consists of two essays and an introduction. The main theme is technological knowledge that is not based on the natural sciences.The first essay is about rules of thumb, which are simple instructions, used to guide actions toward a specific result, without need of advanced knowledge. Knowing adequate rules of thumb is a common form of technological knowledge. It differs both from science-based and intuitive (or tacit) technological knowledge, although it may have its origin in experience, scientific knowledge, trial and error, or a combination thereof. One of the major advantages of rules of thumb is the ease with which they can be learned. One of their major disadvantages is that they cannot easily be adjusted to new situations or conditions. Engineers commonly use rules, theories and models that lack scientific justification. How to include these in introductory technology education is the theme of the second essay. Examples include rules of thumb based on experience, but also models based on obsolete science or folk theories. Centrifugal forces, heat and cold as substances, and sucking vacuum all belong to the latter group. These models contradict scientific knowledge, but are useful for prediction in limited contexts where they are used when found convenient. The role of this kind of models in technology education is the theme of the second essay. Engineers’ work is a common prototype for pupils’ work with product development and systematic problem solving during technology lessons. Therefore pupils should be allowed to use the engineers’ non-scientific models when doing design work in school technology. The acceptance of these could be experienced as contradictory by the pupils: a model that is allowed, or even encouraged in technology class is considered wrong when doing science. To account for this, different epistemological frameworks must be used in science and technology education. Technology is first and foremost about usefulness, not about the truth or even generally applicable laws. This could cause pedagogical problems, but also provide useful examples to explain the limitations of models, the relation between model and reality, and the differences between science and technology. / <p>QC 20111118</p>

There are various factors that accounting educators should consider when involved in accounting education. These include: A continuous changing business environment; A new generation of learners studying at universities; A lack of skills among learners; Accounting educators resisting changes in accounting education; and The requirements for continuing professional education. From the literature it seems that much research has been done in the field of accounting education, but that it did not find practical application in the classroom. It is therefore necessary to think creatively in order to find practical solutions for the challenges facing both lecturers and facilitators. In the study the following elements of the teaching-learning environment were identified: Learners; The lecturer/facilitator; The milieu; The subject content (including technical content and competencies); and the Teaching methodology. Each of these elements were investigated during the research in order to identify factors from literature that could be included in an improved teaching plan. As part of the plan (methodology) a board game "Commercium™" was developed to meet the requirements of the teaching-learning environment. The board game was evaluated by first year learners at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. The evaluation proved to be very positive. The learners indicated that technical skills, understanding of the roles of the accountant, soft skills as well as knowledge of the subject content improved as a result. What should especially be noted is their positive reaction due to the fact that the game simulated the business environment and linked theory to practice. They also enjoyed the social and group work aspects of the assignment. The learners further had a general positive attitude towards the game. The highest evaluated positive experiences were described as good, exciting and fresh. On the negative side words such as unhappy, uncomfortable and tensed were recorded. The learners were thus required to move outside their comfort zones. Learners were also required to summarise the project in one word. Two thirds of the remarks were positive, with the number one remark being the word "interesting". The largest negative comment was that the project was confusing at the start. This could, however, be addressed in future projects. In conclusion it can thus be said the Commercium™ game meets the requirements of an effective teaching-learning environment by providing an effective teaching methodology. Lecturers now have an empirically proven effective teaching tool for introductory accounting, based on research of the requirements of the teaching-learning environment. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.